Gifts and Curses
by kazuo-sempai
Summary: AU. In a world where magic is controlled in secret by large corporations, one man must confront the feelings that a seemingly normal girl stirs within him, protect the mysterious artifact that is somehow in her possession, and deal with a Curse that should have been a Gift. No longer a one-shot
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Legend of Zelda.

**A/N: **Random one shot that came from no where. Literally. The title is borrowed from the Yellowcard song. Most of the background information for the setting of this isn't explained, because it isn't vital to the story that is being told.

Gifts and Curses

The rain had been coming down for three days now, and it would continue to come down. That's just how it was in the city; when it rained, it poured. Constantly.

Link scowled as he searched the pockets of his trench coat for his lighter. Not like it would matter if he found it anyway, the damn cigarette was soaked at this point.

'_That's what I get for not bringing an umbrella,' _he thought bitterly.

With a defeated sigh, he spat the cigarette out onto the sidewalk. He turned to walk away, and then was assaulted relentlessly by his conscience. Groaning, he turned back around, picked the cigarette up and threw it in the nearest trash can.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he stomped off to the nearest bar, narrowly avoiding becoming even more soaked by some asshole driving through a puddle.

He pushed his way through the door, stepping into a dimly lit room with tables and chairs strewn haphazardly about. Smoke hung heavily in the air, and the jukebox played some crappy music that no one in their right mind could enjoy. But at least it was dry.

Link walked up to the bar and took his usual seat.

"When are you gonna get that damn thing fixed? It's been stuck on the same track for months," he said, motioning to the old music player.

"It kind of grows on you after a while," replied the bartender, already making his usual.

Link grunted disbelievingly. He reached behind the bar, grabbing the lighter that he knew was there and took another cigarette out of his pack.

"That'll kill you, ya know," said Sheik, placing the glass of brandy on the bar.

"Oh please," snorted Link, picking up the glass.

"I'm not that lucky."

Sheik, leaning against the back wall, gazed morosely at his friend. Link just stared at the cigarette in his hand, droplets of water still dripping from his unkempt blonde hair. With a defeated look, he placed it back into the pack and left the pack on the bar.

"Look," started Sheik. "About your sister..."

"Shut up," replied Link as politely as he could manage.

He gulped down a bit of brandy, wishing it would help get rid of the memories that flashed unbidden before him.

Memories of that stupid, skinny teenager, with tears rolling down his face as he clutched a bloody, lifeless body to his chest...

Memories of a black car tearing away, it's rear window rolling up...

Memories of a blinding pain on the back of his hand, reminding him only of how useless he really was.

There was an awkward silence, broken by Sheik sighing.

"Right... sorry," he said.

Link waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled. "Any news?"

Sheik shook his head.

"Not yet. They haven't made any moves since last week. Far as we can tell they're still after that mirror fragment. We don't exactly know why though."

"And the rain?"

"Our guys are still looking into that. At this point all we know for sure is that it's definitely some kind of curse. Pretty powerful one, too."

"Fantastic," Link remarked sarcastically. "So basically, we don't know anything."

Sheik rolled his eyes.

"There you go again. You know, Intelligence is a pretty difficult field. You ought to give those guys more credit," he chided.

"Whatever," sighed Link, setting down his empty glass.

"So how's your assignment going?" asked Sheik.

"I feel like a pedophile," replied Link, glaring at Sheik's annoying smirk.

"Oh come on. She's only four years younger than you."

"And in high school," cut in Link. "Which definitely doesn't make me feel like some creepy stalker or anything."

Sheik fought the urge to chuckle.

"All kidding aside, you know how important this is, Link. They want the fragment, and she's got it."

"And so I have to follow her around all day, making sure she's safe, and making people think I'm a rapist," Link said bitingly. "I've already had the cops called on me three times. And I don't blame them, either. I'd call the cops on me, too."

This time Sheik did chuckle.

"Alright, alright, I get it. But still-"

"Ow! Damn it!" Link swore suddenly, clutching his left hand like he'd burned it.

The three golden triangles on the back of his hand began to glow white.

"Ah shit," Sheik sighed. "You want me to call in back up or...?"

"No, don't worry," Link said, getting up from his seat. "I got it."

He walked out of the bar and back into the rain. Sheik went to retrieve the empty glass when he noticed that Link had forgotten his pack of cigarettes on the bar. He picked it up and stared at it for a moment, before his lips slowly curved upwards into a smile.

'_Link never forgets anything.'_

He threw the pack away.

* * *

As Link walked down the street, that cold, heavy thing appeared in his hand again, just like it always did. He glared hatefully at the blade, it's weight more than just physical. It was burden on his mind, and made him weary at his core. He felt it always, and some days the weight became too much. Some days it wouldn't let him eat, or sleep, or _feel._

Some days, he would just lay in bed and wish that he had died, too.

But the blade wasn't the worst insult. That honor went to the symbol that blazed on the back of his left hand. It was a glaring, golden reminder of his failure. In some sick, cosmic twist, the symbol of the Hero had been "bestowed" upon _him _of all people!

'_Hero?' _he laughed scathingly. _'What a fucking joke.'_

'_How am _I _supposed to protect anybody...?'_

The cold steel clutched in his right hand hummed and shone with pale light. Link tightened his grip, stalking eagerly toward the strange mist that was forming in the middle of the street. The sooner this was over with, the sooner the damn sword would go away.

Any people that had gathered to stare curiously at the mist were soon running in terror as six skeletons wielding rusted swords emerged. They slashed senselessly at random people, and two of them were even trying to destroy a car.

Link rushed forward, swinging savagely at the nearest stalfos and cutting it cleanly in half. It made a rattling sort of scream and crumbled into dust. He quickly turned and parried a blow from a second monster, and kicked it away as two others turned to face him.

He ran forward, sliding under one of the skeleton's swings at the last second, cutting it's legs out from under it. He rolled to the side and swung his sword upward, removing the second enemy's arms. With a quick slash, he removed the head from it's shoulders and two more monsters were dust.

The stalfos that he had kicked was recovering, but he rammed into it with his shoulder and knocked it flat on it's back. With a mighty cry, he brought his foot down on it's head and the thing's skull shattered.

As Link turned to face the other two, he saw the mist begin to swirl faster.

'_That's never a good sign.'_

The mist swirled and condensed, until it formed a solid, hulking beast. The thing reared it's horned head and roared, stamping it's massive feet on the concrete.

"I picked a hell of a day to quick smoking," Link muttered.

"Link!"

Link turned and saw Sheik running through the rain right towards him.

"Sheik, I said-"

"It's a diversion! I just got a call from Intel! They're going after the girl _right now_!"

"Shit! Can you-"

"Yes! Now go!"

Without a second thought, Link shot off in the opposite direction. Sheik turned to face the monstrosity.

"Okay, big boy," said Sheik, grinning cockily. "Show me what you got!"

* * *

Midna sat at her desk, running her thumb along the edge of her pendant, and stared out the window. It was still raining, but she didn't mind. A little rain was nice once in a while. She stopped playing with her pendant and put the necklace it was attached to back on.

She hummed a tune and absentmindedly drummed her fingers on the top of her desk. Her life wasn't all that exciting, but she was still in high school. She wasn't worried about it all that much.

She watched as a black car came around the corner, and wondered if it was the same one as the last three times...

* * *

Link cursed under his breath and ducked into an alley as a familiar black car came down the street. It's windshield wipers were on full blast, but the tinted windows prevented him from seeing inside. He watched as the car drove past his hiding spot, and then took the next right.

His eyes narrowed. What were they...

Suddenly, he understood.

"Oh no..."

* * *

Midna was pulled out of her thoughts when her mirror pendant suddenly grew hot. Her eyes shot back to window, and she saw it at about the same time Malon asked, "What's with that weird fog?"

Midna got up from her seat slowly and backed away without really understanding why. The rest of her classmates looked at her. She cleared her throat.

"I think we should run."

* * *

Link's heart pounded painfully in his chest and he ran flat out through the rain. As he neared the school, he asked himself why he cared so much. He barely cared about anything than drinking these days. So what was it about that girl...?

He had noticed little things about her over the course of his assignment. She was smart, that was for sure. But she was also brash, and even rude sometimes. More than that, she didn't take crap from anybody.

But she was also lonely. She didn't seem to have any friends, although wether that was by choice or not he didn't know. And there was something else...

Link couldn't place it. He didn't know what it was, had never felt it before. He didn't even know this girl, not really, and yet...

He didn't want her to die.

He thought back to that little girl, clutched to his chest, her blood flowing all over the sidewalk.

Link clenched his teeth in determination.

'_No,' _he told himself.

'_Not again.' _

* * *

Midna wasn't scared. She knew that something bad was about to happen, and she wanted to get away from it, but she wasn't scared.

She wasn't really surprised when the weird mist that was swirling around the main entrance formed into a giant, horned beast.

She wasn't surprised when it looked up right at her and roared.

She was, however, surprised when a young blonde man in a trench coat leapt over the gate and started attacking the thing with a sword.

* * *

Link swore as he tried to wipe the water from his face, but the rain made his efforts useless. He leapt back, narrowly avoiding the giant's massive fist. The pavement cracked under the weight of it's blow, and it roared furiously.

He jumped to the side, slashing as he did, and left a bleeding gash in the beast's forearm. Instead of howling in pain, it merely snarled at him before swiping again. He ducked, and then rolled forward to avoid a overhead swing.

Several black cars pulled up in front of the school, and men and women in white suits and coats piled out. They all raised their sidearms, and then started to shoot at Link.

Scowling, Link did his best to keep the giant creature between him and the shooters, batting away the occasional bullet with his sword. The monster didn't seem to notice the small arms fire peppering it's back, and continued trying to crush the blonde man.

Then, some jackass threw a grenade at him.

Acting solely on instinct, Link kicked the grenade as soon as it landed. Luckily, it flew right toward's the brute's face-

And exploded.

The beast collapsed, blood gushing from the stump of it's neck. The gunmen raised their weapons again, but a voice cut them off.

"Forget about him! Find the girl, dammit!"

The white-clad people ran off in different directions, and Link looked back at the school building.

"Shit," he said to himself. "I hope she's okay."

* * *

In a stunning display of ineptitude, the faculty didn't start evacuating the students until _after _ the shooting had started. Midna scoffed as the other students ran around like headless chickens, clearly ignoring their instructions to leave in a "calm and orderly fashion."

Heading downstairs towards an exit in the back of the school, Midna wondered what in the hell was happening.

Just as the door came into view, it was yanked open. Midna quickly dropped over the side of the staircase and crouched down, out of sight. Those crazy people with the guns came pouring through, splitting into pairs and heading in different directions.

"Kill the girl if you have to!" shouted one of them. "Just find the mirror fragment!"

Midna's hand clenched around her necklace.

'_Aw, shit.'_

* * *

Link ran through the halls of the school, growing more and more agitated. He rounded a corner and came across another pair of the gunmen. With two quick cuts, they both fell dead as he ran past.

"Dammit," he whispered. "Where is she?"

* * *

Midna found herself hiding behind a bookshelf in the library, cursing herself for leaving her cell phone at home. She slowly peeked around the side, trying to see if her route was clear. All she had to do was get to that window...

She quickly pulled back as two white suits came into view. They were a few rows over, but there was no way she could get to the window without them seeing her. She would just have to wait and hope that they'd give her an opening.

'_Or...' _

Bracing herself against a bookshelf, Midna pushed as hard as she could.

"Sorry," she whispered. "But it's your or me, so..."

The shelf toppled forward, knocking over the next, and the two gunmen screamed as a very heavy bookshelf full of very heavy books collapsed on top of them.

Seizing her chance, Midna ran for the window, threw it open, and jumped out.

* * *

Midna hit the ground and rolled, scraping both of her knees and one of her elbows. She quickly got up and bolted for the secondary gate. She pushed it open until it was just wide enough to slip through, and then let it close behind her.

She hadn't heard any gunshots since the suits had entered the school, thankfully, and assumed that they weren't interested in just killing everyone. Desperately wondering what to do next, she sloshed through the mud and pushed her now soaking hair out of her face.

Finally she reached the sidewalk, and headed off towards the closest police station. She had no idea why the cops weren't here yet but-

"Hey! We got a runner!"

"Fuck!" Midna swore loudly, and abruptly turned right.

If she could just find somewhere to hide-

Midna attempted to turn left into an alley, but slipped on the wet pavement. She fell, landing on her side, and hissed as pain shot up her left arm.

"I got her!" came a voice from behind her.

'_Okay, okay, you can do this _you can do this-'

As the person came up behind her, he roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her up-

And she immediately twisted around and punched him in the gut as hard as she could. He wheezed, and stumbled back, his grip loosened. Midna stepped forward and kicked him in the knee as forcefully as she could. There was a _crunch_, and the man fell face first, howling in pain.

She brought up her foot again and, screaming in anger, brought it down, hard. There was another sickening _crunch, _and Midna was pretty sure that she had just broken the man's jaw. She had half a second to wonder if she should grab his gun-

"There she is!"

"Gimme a fucking break!" she cried, and ran down the alley as fast as she could.

She took the next right, ran across the street, turned left into an alley and hit a dead end. She stopped quickly, almost slipping again, and turned to head back.

There was a man with a gun waiting when she turned around. Her heart skipped a beat. The gun was pointed right at her.

"Just come with us," he said, grinning perversely. "If you come quietly-"

Suddenly, a trench coated young man with blonde hair dropped down from the fire escape directly above them. He landed in between Midna and the gunman and, before either of them could respond, his sword lashed out.

The gunman stared in shock at the place his hand used to be before cold steel slashed across his chest and ended his life.

The man with the sword turned around and looked directly at Midna.

She fell right on her ass, and tried to scoot backwards but she hit the brick wall.

He stalked towards her quickly, and she threw out a fist desperately. He caught it easily and tried to speak.

"Stop! I'm-"

He was interrupted by her other fist connecting with his jaw. Taken by surprise, he let go of her and fell to the side. She quickly rose and tried to run past him-

But he caught her by the arm, and pulled her towards him. She began to struggle, wondering if anyone would hear her if she called out-

"Stop, dammit! I'm trying to help you!"

His exasperated growl was so unexpected that she actually did stop. She looked at him. His wet blonde hair was hanging in his face, his deep blue eyes were staring right at her, and his lips were twisted into a scowl. She gulped.

"Who... are you?" she managed to ask.

He blinked several times before answering.

"I'm... nobody. But that isn't important right now."

Suddenly, Midna recognized him.

"You're the guy that fought that monster at the school!"

"What? Oh, yeah... that was me," he said, a bit taken aback.

'_This guy is weird,' _Midna thought to herself. '_But still... there's something about him...'_

Link sighed to himself, and then gently released his grip on Midna's arm. She looked so confused and helpless... although he knew that she was very capable of handling herself. That thought almost made him smirk.

"Okay. I know you don't know me, and I know that this all seems crazy, but I'm here to help. You're just going to have to trust me."

Link looked right into her eyes, and slowly, Midna nodded. He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Get down, and try to stay behind something solid."

Midna looked around, and then crouched behind a large metal dumpster. Link kneeled down next to her. For a moment, the only sound was the falling rain.

"I _will _protect you," he whispered.

"I promise."

Out on the street, several black cars screeched to a halt. Their doors opened, and several white suited figures stepped out, readying their weapons.

Link raised his head and, with blade in hand, stepped forward to deny them.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"We have no choice."

In a plane of existence far beyond our own, the mighty gods looked down upon the world of mortal men. Their gazes were trained on one specific mortal, and each of them felt a slight twinge of fear.

And in some cases, sympathy.

"He's just a child.." Hylia muttered softly. "What harm could-"

"You know," interrupted Demise. "You yourself saw into his probability generator. He wields too much power for a mere human."

Behind the bars of his cage, The Sinner chuckled quietly. Demise turned his furious gaze upon the formless being.

"Be silent, abomination," he growled. "Do not poison us more than you already have."

"Aww, what's the matter?" cooed The Sinner with a cheshire grin. "Are the big bad gods scared of an itty bitty baby?"

The Sinner laughed madly to himself, a response to words that only he could hear.

"Wait," called Nayru, cutting off Demise's rebuttal. "Let him speak. Perhaps he has seen something."

Din nodded her agreement, and Hylia smiled at the wisest of her daughters. Even Demise would dare not ignore advice from her.

The Sinner chuckled, and sobbed, and screamed before suddenly becoming silent. He brought himself into a more solid state of being, his black humanoid hands gripping the golden bars of his prison. His empty eyes swept across all of them.

"He has power, more than you can understand. Not strength of body, no... but neither is it strength of mind."

His gaze rested briefly on Hylia's third daughter before locking once again with the angry glare of Demise.

"Do what you must. You will be safe."

'_For a time,' _he added silently to himself.

The Sinner's form faded, and he was once again an imprisoned cloud of thought. Demise grunted, before nodding to himself.

"Farore, come forth."

The green haired goddess stepped forward obediently, trying desperately to hide her unease. She bowed her head to the End of All Things.

"The time has come at last to prove yourself," he said. "Go to the mortal world. Find this child."

Farore looked up, dreading his next words.

"Slay him, and be comforted by the fact that our guidance will continue unopposed."

Farore looked to her mother and sisters, but none would meet her gaze. Sadness filled her as she stood up.

"Very well," she said in her soft voice.

* * *

The family was struggling. The child had been unexpected, and they were unsure if they would have the means to support it. The weary mother placed her sleeping child in his crib, hoping to get some much needed rest.

It would be a kindness, Farore tried to convince herself. The poor woman could not hope to give the child all that it needed, and the father would need to find another job to make ends meet. If the boy grew up, it would be in an unhappy home, and he would lead an unhappy life for a very long time. She would be doing him a favor by sparing him all that pain.

But she couldn't do it. She watched the child sleeping and knew that she could not kill him. She gently brushed her finger across his cheek, and looked into his being.

Fragility. A need to find something to believe in, and an utter failure to do so. Hopelessness. She saw all of these things.

But she saw kindness too. Loyalty. Warmth, and caring. A desire to love and be loved.

That was the person this boy would become, regardless of circumstance. It was branded in his soul. And when she found the center of his being, the very core of who he was, Farore knew what she had to do.

* * *

From far away, she watched the boy grow up. She had granted him her mark, a symbol that proclaimed his true nature to all the world. She had been right about his life. It had been very hard so far. He went hungry often, and sometimes his parents would take their frustrations out on him. They would always feel ashamed afterwards, but there was nothing they could do to heal the damage that was being done to his young mind.

Farore was saddened by this, but knew that someday he would find his purpose, and then everything would be right. Farore believed that her mark protected the child, that it's power shielded him from the gazes of the other gods.

She was wrong.

* * *

Link stood up on his tip-toes, trying to get a better look. His breath fogged the glass, and he impatiently wiped it with his sleeve. Behind him, his dad chuckled.

Link's dad always looked really tired, and Link knew that it was because he worked really hard. He wasn't used to hearing his dad laugh though.

His parents didn't really talk to him. They were both at work most of the time, so he was usually home alone. His mom always got home first, but she would just make dinner without looking at him and then go upstairs to rest. His dad would get back a few hours after her, eat, and then go straight to bed.

He left for work before Link woke up to go to school, so they only ever saw each other for a few minutes each day. Sometimes, though, his dad would be really mad when he came home. That was the only time he would ever talk to Link.

He would yell, calling people that Link didn't know bad names and, eventually, he would start yelling at Link. His dad would say that Link was a burden, or that he should start making a contribution. Once he even said that he wished Link had never been born at all. Whenever that happened, his dad would go out of his way to avoid him for the next couple of days.

Link felt bad that he couldn't help his parents more, but he was only eight years old. He couldn't do any grown up things yet, so he tried to find an eight year old way to help.

The other kids in his class would always talk about doing things that made their parents happy. But Link couldn't draw, or paint, or play any instruments. One of the kids said that when she showed her parents her grades they had been really happy.

But when Link tried to show his mom or dad his tests or homework, they just looked disappointed. He didn't really know why, so he asked his teacher.

"Well, Link," she had said sternly. "It's because you mostly get C's and D's. Those aren't good grades. If you want to be a good boy, you need to get A's and B's."

Link didn't really get it, but he decided that he would try to get A's and Bs from then on. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't. He asked one of the boys who always got A's how he did it.

"It's because I'm smart," he said proudly. "Only dumb kids don't get A's. My daddy said so."

So, Link couldn't make his parents happy. He wasn't talented or smart, and as far as he could tell that was the only way to make adults happy. He was sad for a while, but then something happened.

His dad got a promotion, which meant that both of his parents didn't have to work as much. They even got to move into a bigger house! But that wasn't the best thing that had happened.

Link turned around, and saw his dad looking through the glass and smiling. He put a gentle hand on Link's shoulder.

"Wave, son" he whispered. "Wave to your little sister."

Link turned back and waved tentatively and the tiny baby that was behind the glass. There were a lot of babies, but his dad had pointed out the one that was his new sister. She was kicking her tiny feet and moving her little arms around.

Link kept waving, and his lips curved into a tiny smile.

"Hello," he whispered.

* * *

After that, things got a little better. His dad never yelled anymore, and his mom smiled most of the time. They still didn't talk to him much, but he didn't mind. He really liked playing with Aryll, and she liked playing with him, too.

Whenever she was upset and his parents couldn't get her to stop crying, Link would go over to her crib and talk softly to her. That always calmed her down and made her happy. And when she was happy, Link was happy too.

The years went by, and both of them grew up. When Aryll was finally old enough to go to school, she was really excited. She didn't believe her big brother when he had said that it wasn't much fun, and she soon found out that she was right to.

Aryll was really smart. Her teachers all said that she learned at an "accelerated rate." When she got to first grade, she was already reading at a fifth grade level! Everyone was really proud of her, especially Link.

Even though he was older now, Link still struggled in school. He didn't know why, but he just had a hard time grasping most of what he was supposed to be learning. Math was confusing, Science was difficult, and he could never remember anything from History. He did like to read, but he was more interested in fantasy and science fiction novels than the "classics" that they made him read for English.

No one ever had time to help him, so his GPA was stuck at a below average level. Whenever his report card came in the mail, his parents would glance at it, sigh, and say "Why can't you be more like your sister?"

That probably should have made him angry, but he didn't mind. Link loved his sister more than anything, and he didn't care if she was smarter than him.

She would always be his little sister. No matter what.

* * *

"Faggot."

Link sighed, and wondered how much longer high school would last. He really didn't like it. People called him names and threw things at him. His teachers all though he was an idiot and never tried to help him with his schoolwork. He didn't have any friends, either. He was sixteen, but he just... didn't know how to talk to people.

Every day he would take the same route to his first class, and every day he would walk past this same kid, who would call him a faggot and then he and his girlfriend would laugh.

He walked past them, ignoring their laughter, and pulled the hood of his ratty green jacket over his head. The rain was picking up again.

He got made fun of a lot because most of his clothes were a bit beat up. His parents spent most of their money on Aryll. He didn't mind, though. It was important that she have the best school supplies, after all.

Thinking about his sister made him smile. She was the only friend he had. He couldn't wait for the school day to be over, so he could walk her home. That was the only part of his day that he ever looked forward to.

* * *

"Big bro!" Aryll sang as he came into view.

He smiled softly and waved at her.

"Sorry I'm late," he said in his quiet voice.

She just laughed and ran down the sidewalk ahead of him, jumping in puddles every so often. Aryll really liked the rain.

"Watch out for cars," he called after her. "They might hit a puddle in the road and splash you."

She turned around and frowned at him.

"That's why I'm wearing my raincoat, silly," she chided.

Her face split into a big grin and she jumped into a puddle right next to him, soaking his jeans.

"Hey!" he yelled playfully, before trying to splash her too.

She screamed with laughter as they continued down the sidewalk. A black car came around the corner ahead, going just a little faster than was safe. Link wiped his wet hair out of his face and called out to his sister.

"Look out, I think that guy is gonna make a big one!"

"Oh no!" she cried out happily. "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

Aryll ran forward and jumped into his arms just as the black car passed.

For some reason, everything seemed to be slowing down.

There were two loud bangs, and then the screeching of tires as the black car peeled away, it's back window rolling up. People started screaming. His chest felt warm.

Confused, Link looked down. Aryll was staring up at him, her mouth open and her eyes wide. Slowly, she slipped from his grasp.

He knelt to catch her, still not understanding what was going on.

She landed in his arms, and he looked down.

There was blood everywhere. Her arms were hanging limply at her side.

She was staring up at him, but there wasn't any light in her eyes.

He felt hot tears stream down his cheeks as he realized that his little sister was dead.

He gently laid her down on the sidewalk, choking back sobs, and the rain washed her blood into the street. His hands were shaking. He didn't know what to do.

Finally, he let out an anguished scream, and began to cry uncontrollably. He shook her, begging for her to please be fine...

He couldn't take her staring any more. He reached out and closed her eyelids with quivering fingers.

He held her body close, still sobbing, rocking back and forth.

The back of his left hand began to burn.

Slowly, he brought it up and stared at it.

There, on the back of his hand, three golden triangles began to form.


End file.
